The number of advertised IT jobs is now marginally greater than the number of people looking for work in the sector, according to industry body E-skills UK.

A survey by E-skills UK shows that advertised vacancies in the IT sector rose to 101,000 positions in the third quarter of 2010, while the number of IT staff looking for new jobs declined to just over 100,000. There were more vacancies in IT than applicants for the first time since 2008.

The number of IT workers claiming Job Seekers Allowance fell to 29,000 with the IT unemployment rate falling to 3.1 percent. That figure compares with an overall unemployment rate of 8.3 percent for the workforce as a whole, suggesting individuals looking for work in IT are better off than those looking for work in other industries.